Leading Nigerian fashion designer, Andrea Iyamah made a stunning Edo–Delta bride wearing a custom, fully beaded crimson tube dress with detached long sleeves.
Andrea is renowned for blending her beautiful African heritage with impeccable craftsmanship in her designs for her prominent ready-to-wear, swimwear, and bridal lines. She did magic with her traditional wedding outfit, donning an extraordinary creation, fully embellished with custom-dyed beads.
Taking over 500 hours of artful beadwork, from the bodice to the sleeves and then some, this stunning dress reflects a deep connection to the meticulous Edo and beautiful Delta cultures in celebration of one of life’s greatest gifts (love).
Although beadwork is an age-long practice in many African cultures, the Edo people have been renowned for their exceptional brilliance, affinity for red beads (particularly coral beads), and intricate beadwork for centuries. Their luxurious, mostly handcrafted beadwork has been globally recognised as symbols of power, prestige, wealth, royalty, and beauty.
More specifically, the Edo bride is widely considered to be “in a class of her own” given the undeniable beauty and incomparability of her typical aesthetics. The Edo bridal attire features impeccable beadings, beaded embellishments, and beaded accessories. The numerosity of its beads speaks of the wealth and riches at home.
Andrea—a Deltan and one of Africa’s foremost contemporary fashion designers—marrying into the Edo group in a fascinating attire that pays homage to the incredible artistry of her husband’s people and reveals next-level creativity with state-of-the-art craftsmanship is highly significant. There’s no greater statement than making your own one-of-a-kind wedding outfit on theme.
Following her hashtag #TheEdenWedding, which references the biblical Garden of Eden, Andrea took us back to Eden, a place of perfection with this masterpiece. Hit the ▶ button below for a glimpse of the production process through Somkhele Idhalama‘s lens:
Took all the muscle in me to not cry tears of joy, relief, and all the emotions in between making this video.
This dress, designed by the mastermind that is @andrea.oi and executed in 3 different countries, custom dyed beads + at least 500 hours of labour put into its construction, is a masterpiece if I may say so myself.
In the garden of Eden, God worked and called His creation ‘GOOD’. The labour of love put into this dress and the entire wedding is exemplary, even if only to a miniature scale but nonetheless very significant, of what God calls ‘GOOD’.
— Somkhele Idhalama, sister of the bride.
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CREDITS
Bellastylista: @andrea.oi
Video: @somkele_i
